CATHOLIC opponents of Pope Francis are “manipulating” the Church’s child sex-abuse scandal to force him to resign, it is claimed.

Conservatives in the church angered by Pope Francis’ more liberal approach are hoping to force the pontiff out, five years after he became the leader of the world’s 1.2billion Catholics.

A bombshell 11-page letter from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican diplomat, accused the pope of helping to cover up allegations of sexual abuse by former archbishop of Washington Theodore McCarrick.

But supporters of Pope Francis believe his enemies are using the scandal to block his reforms, such as allowing divorced or remarried Catholics to take Communion.

Brendan Walsh, editor of British Catholic weekly newspaper The Tablet, told the Financial Times: “They are manipulating the child abuse scandal - which has devastated so many lives - for their own political purpose.”

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Certainly, the situation is not at all worrying. The Pope has the ability to keep a very serene approach

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin

Pope Francis has said he will “not say one word” about Archbishop Vigano’s claims , which were published on the second day of the pope’s historic two-day trip to Ireland, which saw Irish taoiseach Leo Varadkar demand action from the Church over the sex-abuse scandal.

Cardinal Parolin told Vatican Insider: “The situation is not at all worrying. The Pope is a great grace, even in the face of these things that obviously create so much bitter disappointment as well as much restlessness.

“He has the ability to keep a very serene approach.”

Survivors of sexual abuse have expressed disappointment at the pope’s stance on the scandal and urged him to act.

Peter Saunders, a British abuse victim, told the Financial Times: “Francis is a very popular guy and makes a lot of sense on poverty and the environment, but on the abuse issue he remains strangely inactive, bar the occasional outpouring of pain.